his deportation back to belize. we don't know if belize will seek his extradition from miami. cnn newsroom continues with brooke baldwin. >> cnn goes inside syria. witnesses this man crawling on his stomach just to save this woman's life. she had been shot by a sniper. you will see what happens next. i'm brooke baldwin. the news is now. be prepared. a massive cyber attack may be coming and the target? your cash. plus in his last weeks in congress, dennis kucinich demanding president obama give up secrets about drone attacks. he joins me live. >> it's 30,000 square feet. >> so long, hollywood. america's got a new hot spot for movies in the deep south.

>> good to be with you. -iment brooke baldwin. i want to begin with a cnn exclusive. this is tough to watch, but the pictures speak volumes about what the syrian civil war is doing to its own people. this is about this teenager who defies the basic survival instinct, running away from a hail of bullets. oh, no. instead this young man who used to work in a bakery decides to crawl into the gunfire to try to save a stranger's life. this is a reality for so many syrians every single day. here's cnn, but if there children in the room, get them out now. >> a fighter slithers across the street. his body hugging the cold pavement. yards away a woman lies motionless. she has been shot by a sniper. her rescuer is not a relative

nor a neighbor. he never met her. he is just 17. he knew he had to save the woman or die trying. when we met him later, he told us -- >> translator: we had a feeling she was still alive. we wanted to save her. to get her to a hospital. >> as he crawls closer, he can see her hand. her fingers shaking. cover him! cover him, someone shouts. other fighters lay down and cover fire. he quickly ties the hose to her legs, but he is unable to retreat.

>> i said to myself, if i die it's god's will that i die next to this woman, he told us. finally he makes a run for it and the rebels drag the woman back. the woman and her son were walking down the street there. rebel fighters shouted at them to stay away, but it was too late. this is crisscrossed with similar sniper alley skpes some are known, but others do not reveal themselves until the first shot has been fired. despite the efforts, the woman

dies. her son is utterly distraught. don't die now. don't die today, he pleads. answer me, mom. she is not dead, he said as he collapses. he is left wondering whether her life could have been saved if he reached her sooner. until recently, he worked at a bakery. now like thousands of young syrians he puts his life on the line. >> translator: i am not a hero. i am just like anyone else. >> we are left to wonder how many acts of courage go unrecorded every day in syria and how many innocent are lost. cnn. >> there new signs that the man

behind the war scene you just witnessed may be close to defeat. one of them comes from the official scene right here beside syrian president assad. this is russia's deputy foreign minster. he told his country's state run news service the syrian government is losing control of more of the country. a quote from him. "we need to look at the facts in the eye. unfortunately we can't exclude a victory by the opposition." russia was one of the votes that kept the united nations from acting against assad. on top of that, today the native secretary general said this. >> i think the regime in damascus is approaching collapse. i think now is only a question of time. >> another possible sign of assad's regime cracking. four scud missiles that officials say were aimed at

anti-government faxes in northern syria. scud missiles here. analysts say the regime they are using reckless extremes it's a sign of desperation. we will talk about that at the top of the hour, but today 28 syrians were killed according to opposition groups. nearly all died in two car bombings in the damascus superbs. a warning, your bank account could come under attack from cyber criminals. this coming from the computer security firm mcafee. hackers are planning a massive attack on 30 u.s. banks and financial institutions. take a look and see if yours is on the list. this is a partial list. the attack is called project blitzkrieg that supposedly launched by two russian hackers to begin next spring. the goal is to steal millions from customer accounts. kevin, let me bring you in. you are a former hacker and you

have your own business. welcome. explain this to me. project blitzkrieg. how is it supposed to work? >> it's a large scale attack. they will be using all types of technology and basically what we call bot nets to gather a lot of computer systems is of average people into this bot net. how that's done is these attackers are able to get software on to these computers and install malicious software that can gather banking credentials or even as you are online with your bank, they can be actually changing how it looks to you on your screen. >> so this is incredibly scary. here's the thing, when you read about this, these u.s. financial institutions are not doing enough to beef up security online. they are putting it on we, the

customer. we have to give up all this personal information for us to access the bank website. if and when this happens and let's hope it doesn't, what do banks need to do? >> i mean as a consumer, first thing i would think about is moving away from the windows operating system. for example to the mac or a linux-based system. the software is not written for the operating system yet. it probably will be in the future. also not to be gullible, but how your computer gets infected with mall wear is you will receive an e-mail that contains an attachment or a hyper link. if you are gullible enough to open it, now this software sits on your computer and it can do these nasty things like interfere with your banking transactions. it's important not to be gullible and be careful what you open on the internet.

>> we should point this out. there a lot of skeptics in the community that say this whole thing can be run by russian police trying to catch hackers or maybe it's the ramblings of a wannabe criminal. what do you think? >> i think it's real. >> you do? >> we have organized crime that use computer hacking techniques and want to steal money. they asked willie sutton why did you rob the bank? that's where the money is. they want to make the operations scaleable. there millions of dollars at risk. the two ways that they are going to get you is by tricking you into opening up the attachment or clicking that hyper link or what they will do is exploit a security flaw on your computer system. it's important to keep your operating system files up to date and these applications that sit on your desk top.

even a free tool that can help you do that if you google software personal inspector with that. it looks on the computer and finds the software that's out of date. >> this is great information. >> it's absolutely free. >> we will put it on the blog because a lot of these folks could be affected if we are talking 30 banks and u.s. financial institutions. thank you so much. we put it on the blog. cnn.com/brooke. >> tragedy in afghanistan when an american is killed when a suicide bomber attacks this area where leon panetta just visited. you see erin burnett and we will get her report coming up. you have seen the bickering and the public sniping. what you haven't heard is behind the scenes here of the fiscal cliff, that is until now. that's next. but you're progressive, and they're them. yes. but they're here. yes. are you...? there? yes. no. are you them? i'm me. but those rates are for... them.

so them are here. yes! you want to run through it again? no, i'm good. you got it? yes. rates for us and them -- now that's progressive. call or click today. spending the day with my niece. i don't use super poligrip for hold because my dentures fit well. before those little pieces would get in between my dentures and my gum and it was uncomfortable. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. so it's not about keeping my dentures in, it's about keeping the food particles out. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. how much is your current phone bill? four sixteen seventy six a month! okay, come with me -- we're gonna save you money. with straight talk at walmart, you get unlimited talk, text and data for only $45 a month per phone. would we get the same coverage? same coverage on america's best networks.

you saved $146.76 by switching to straight talk. awesome! now you can afford to share your allowance with me. get the season's hottest smartphones like the samsung galaxy s2 and get straight talk with unlimited data for just $45 a month -- from america's gift headquarters. walmart. ♪ governor of getting it done. you know how to dance... with a deadline. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. this is awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is, business pro. yes, it is. go national. go like a pro.

[ male announcer ] when diarrhea hits, kaopectate stops it fast. powerful liquid relief speeds to the source. fast. [ male announcer ] stop the uh-oh fast with kaopectate. 19 days and counting until the government goes over the fiscal cliff. your taxes automatically go up. at this moment i wish they were close to a deal, but after john boehner and house minority leader nancy pelosi spoke a

short time ago, deep sigh. not there yet. take a listen. >> republicans put out a let they're had more signatures than ideas. it had like one number. that's not -- let's get real. let's really get real about this if we are going to have a solution. >> here we are at the 11th hour and the president still is not serious about dealing with this issue right here. it's this issue. spending. we want to talk about polling. most americans agree that spending is a much bigger problem than raising taxes. we want to deal with this in a responsible way. >> as you just heard, house speaker said the white house is not serious about cutting spending, but the white house said it could be over if republicans agreed to raise taxes on the top 2%. guess what. 76% of adults surveyed agree with the president on this one. this is according to the polls as the "wall street journal" nbc poll. let's go to washington to the

senior congressional correspondent. dana, you talked to the two men who spent their careers in congress making deals like this. how do they pull it off? >> it was a fascinating conversation. the two men you are talking are about two former senate majority leaders. a republican and a democrat. trent lott and tom daschle. they worked on opposite sides for almost a decade. that is the question i asked. it wasn't always pretty, but how did you come up with deals when you had touch negotiations like what's going on right now. the answer was simple. talk to each other. >> i do think that they reached a point where they need to quit talking through the media. i'm talking about both parties and the leaders in congress. some of the most effective wi timth theresint or at dn least with the chief of staff and the director with our key

budget people and we really talk about alternatives and hammered it out. >> this will be the test. if we reset it has to happen around the fiscal cliff first. there a lot of other issues out there that could be addressed if we can really create a new climate. whether we do in part depends on the success of this effort right now. >> brooke, you heard him mention the word climate. that is a major difference that they admitted exists in the atmosphere and even five or years ago. senator lott admitted if he were a leader he would be concerned about a challenge from the right that republicans didn't like too much. the same for democrats that. dynamic that blossomed and in a big way over the last few years. it is a big reason why both sides are having trouble coming up with a deal. >> that are is fascinating. they get the behind the scenes

of the two men now that they are friendly and talking about it. what about secret conversations. where do they do that? at a golf course or hotel? >> these two had something interesting. they actually had a hotline. they had one phone line that went from senator to senator. the staff didn't know about it and they met secretly on balc y balconies to work it out without anyone around. >> i'm picturing smoke signals and a bat signal. thank you very much from the hill. we are getting new details on the man behind the shooting rampage in oregon and the tragic, tragic aftermath of his rage. coming up next, how the shooter's ex-girlfriend describes him and his final days before the tragedy.

welcome to chevy's year-end event. so, the 5.3-liter v8 silverado can tow up to 9,600 pounds? 315 horsepower. what's that in reindeer-power? [ laughs ] [ pencil scratches ] [ male announcer ] chevy's giving more. get the best offer of the year -- 0% apr financing for 60 months plus $1,000 holiday bonus cash. plus trade up for an additional $1,000 trade-in allowance. hurry. bonus cash ends january 2nd. how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise.

the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪

. we are learning new information about the young man behind the mass shooting in oregon and the tragic aftermath of his own rage. take a look at this picture that oregon police released. 22-year-old jacob roberts. shocked friends say he was kind and upbeat and studying to be a firefighter. take a listen to what his former

girlfriend said in interview with abc. >> this is the last thing i would have expected especially from him. he was just too sweet. never mean to anybody. >> too sweet. she also said roberts recently quit his job and sold his things and planned to move to hawaii and bought a ticket. now she wonder fist he planned to move. here say counsellor with his high school. >> he was counseling kid assigned to the yard system and helped us with work in the counseling office. i found him to be a polite young man. soft spoken and nice smile. just really surprised that somebody with his personality would do this. >> we are learning more about the victims. 54-year-old cindy ann yullie.

she was everyone's friend and a hospice nurse. steve forsythe had two children and loved to coach kids sports. christina is in the hospital in serious condition with bullet fragments in the lung and liver. the 15-year-old will recover, but faces more surgery. >> john mcafee, the software pioneer is back in the u.s. >> i don't even know why i'm here. this morning i was in jail and today here i am. >> a bizarre murder mist rear had this mouth you will on the run and hiding in belize to you go at mally and now miami beach. what's next? we caught up with him. that's ahead. [ female announcer ] what if the next big thing, isn't a thing at all?

it's lots of things. all waking up. connecting to the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. we're going to wake the world up. and watch, with eyes wide, as it gets to work.

cisco. tomorrow starts here. >> tragedy in afghanistan as an

american is killed outside of a base in kandahar. all this after leon panetta left the area. cnn's erin burnett is on that trip. >> i was traveling with the defense secretary and in kandahar with him. at this point the u.s. defense department said that they don't know whether it was linked to the secretary's arrival. you may remember when the secretary visited afghanistan, there was an unauthorized vehicle that gained access to an air base on that visit. we are not sure if it was lirchlged or not. it was a terrible attack. one member lost his and two afghan civilians in terms of injuries. 18 afghan civilians. the numbers could change. the taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing and in fact praised the spokesman for the suicide bomber

for his bravery. the timing on this is very tough for afghanistan and the united states. both are trying to tell a story about improving security in this country with an insurgency on the wane if not on the way to defeat. general abrams in kandahar said the security situation gets better every day and said the insurgents are limited. when he gave examples on what they tried and failed to do, attacking the air field was on that list. just to make it clear here, this attack happened at the entrance to the air field and it's unclear as to whether they actually were able to breech the perimeter at this time. back to you. >> thank you. secretary panetta revealing that president obama invited afghan president karzai to washington for meetings sometime early next year. i want to you listen to what leon panetta told erin burnett about al qaeda hours before the

attack. >> the original mission was i will quote the president, to defeat, disrupt, and destroy al qaeda. is that mission accomplished? >> the mission of defeating and deterring al qaeda i think is well on the way towards achieving the mission with regards to afghanistan and the threat we face here. we continue to face al qaeda elsewhere, not only in pakistan, but yemen and elsewhere. we have had success going after special operations. we are continuing to do that. the main challenge is to make sure there is no safe haven, but the key to that is in afghanistan that can secure and govern itself. they can lock in terms of the mission in afghanistan. >> you can hear more from the

defense secretary on erin burnett out front. 7:00 eastern. >> bottom of the hour now, brooke baldwin's hugo chavez suffered complications from his operations. rafael romo with what happened. a hemorrhage? >> that's right. a few moments ago, the minster for venezuela gave a speech it all confirming that that's right. the president chavez in a surgery for cancer in cuba experienced a hemorrhage and said the surgeon his to take corrective measures to stop it. he said it will take time for him to recover because of the complexity of the operation he underwent as far as complications that arose during

surgery when there was a hemorrhage that required measures to get it under control. it's a nation that supplies about 14% of the oil that we consume in this country. it has been unfriendly to the government of the united states and western powers. he was diagnosed with cancer in june of last year and undergone procedures to cuba. the most recent one was this weekend when he announced that once again he found malignant cells in his body and he had to undergo another surgery. the interesting part here is that he has to take office on january 10th. he has already named foreign min stur nicholas merudo to replace him. >> in the interim or if he can't -- >> to be in charge of venezuela

in the interim and in case he is unable to take office on january 10th. he won the elections in october. >> the hemorrhage right now. let me ask about a different topic and something you also covered. the death of jenny rivera. we have sad news for her family. >> that's right. we have been talking to her family and they were clinging to the hope that she was somehow alive. the bad news came in about two hours from the government of the mexican state confirming that dna samples matched the remains of jen i rivera that were found at the crash site. remember she died in a plane crash on sunday and now mexican authorities say they can positively identify those remains and those of her publicist and the pilots in the airplane. >> so sad, rafael. thank you. if you thought our congress was dysfunctional -- take a look at

this. what made these lawmakers come to blows in the ukraine. next. anncr: some politicians seem to think medicare and...

social security are just numbers in a budget. well, we worked hard for those benefits. we earned them. and if washington tries to cram decisions about the future... of these programs into a last minute budget deal... we'll all pay the price. aarp is fighting to protect seniors with responsible... solutions that strengthen medicare and... social security for generations to come. we can do better than a last minute deal... that would hurt all of us. we don't let frequent heartburn come between us and what we love. so if you're one of them people who gets heartburn and then treats day after day... block the acid with prilosec otc

and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. >> if you think the jabs among our members of congress are bad, take a look at this. >> was that a headlock? are you watching this with me? lawmakers shoving and punching and climbing over one another. one person's ear was torn. i'm not kidding. ear torn as the fight broke out. this is day two of this. where is this? you see there on the screen the ukraine. parliament trying to elect a new and speaker and here's the thing.

police can't jump in. lawmakers cannot be punished and scenes like that are apparently not uncommon. allegations of a political bribe, murder, climbing through underbrush to cross borders and a fake heart attack. not talking with a movie, but real life developments in the bizarre case with software millionaire john mcafee. his neighbor in belize seen here, gregg fall was found shot in the head last month and police want to talk to mcafee. he said no way, he claims close to four dozen soldiers showed up and handcuffed him and shot his dog after he refused to pay a bribe to a politician. he has been in hiding. where did he turn up? across the border in guatemala. officials don't want him. they start talking about sending him back to belize. then what does he do? remember this medical emergency

that had his jailers rushing him to the hospital? he explained he faked the whole thing. >> the heart issue. >> i'm sorry? >> the issues with your heart. >> okay because as soon as he got to police, the prime minister called the president of guatemala and said we want it back here. if nothing happened, i would be returning to police. that was after i got well. >> where is he now? >> that is where john is. i know you talked about that and you are in the hotel room face-to-face with this man. is there government corruption in belize? >> who knows if there is merit to his claims of corruption, but i can tell you this after sitting with him for an hour at the hotel, the beacon where he is staying, he absolutely

believes that and each said this whole thing about the murder of the american businessman is not the story at all. it all goes back to what you mentioned. he didn't pay that bribe to the local politician and the government is out to get him. in essence would have framed him for the murder of gregory fall. that's who prompted him to leave belize illegally and end up back here in the united states. >> we know belize police want to talk to him. they are extradited back and afee said he is not worriyed at all. here's what he said last night. >> do you worry that the u.s. and belize have extra treaties? >> not the all. if i'm no front of a court there is nothing they will do to send me back. they have no evidence about that. beginning with the attack on my

property in april. of course i'm not worried if you read my blog, i have been speaking out against the government. openly. i am a torn in their side and they want to shut me up. now that they are here, they cannot shut me up. >> for he thinks the government is after him, i am so afraid of the government and why not skype with them and go with officials. there options. no? >> the bottom line for him is i'm not charged with any crime. why should i go there? all they wanted is questioning. while the united states is police have an agreement, unless they were to file some formal charges against him, he's not going anywhere. it's his legal right to not go anywhere. he said the fbi has not questioned him about this case to this point. brooke? >> all right. on miami beach, thanks, john.

>> chelsea roth nearly dieda a teenager from an eating disorder and now teaches yoga at workshops across the country. in this week's human factor, we see how she turned her life around. >> how are you? >> when you see chelsea roth now, looking happy and vibrant, it's nearly impossible to imagine the day she said part of her brain died. at 15 years old, she suffered a stroke brought on by severe anorexia. >> i now know from looking at hospital records i was 58 pounds. >> 58 pounds and close to dying. so many parts of her body were failing. there no pictures of her at her sickest. this picture is from about a year earlier in and out of treatment centers. she remembers how starting a diet with her mom in the midst of a difficult and dangerous

childhood spiralled into a disorder that nearly killed her. >> looking back, i think my body was my only way to tell the people around me that something wasn't okay. i was scare and hurting and i needed help. >> help came for roff when she was hospitalized for 18 months following her stroke. >> i had a bed. i had nurses and doctors that showed up every day and were consistent and i had food and i had water and i was finally getting digestive function back. >> as part of the recovery, the therapist suggested she try yoga to start listening to her body without burning too many calories. almost immediately she was hooked. >> i gained 20 or 30 pounds and had done yoga teacher training and teaching in a juvenile detention center. it became sort of a love affair for me. >> my name is chelsea. i was a patient of the doctor. >> she writes and shares her

story with others who struggle with eating disorders as well as loved ones. >> i tell the girls i am not afraid of my fullness. >> yoga is not a cure for anything. it's one of many tool when is used correctly, helped her rebuild her life. >> you can live in your body fully and have happiness. that's for me the biggest thing. >> cnn reporting. >> sanjay gupta, thank you. watch sanjay gupta md at 4:30 p.m. eastern and sunday morning is the eachb:30 only here on cnn. the use of combat drones, two normally on opposite sides of the spectrum are taking on the white house and one is demanding the administration reveal the secrets. the congressman joins me live to talk about it next. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso.

your soups are so awesomely delicious my husband and i can't stop eating 'em! what's...that... on your head? can curlers! tomato basil. potato with bacon. we've got a lotta empty cans. [ male announcer ] hear from our chefs on facebook this friday!

hurry in and try five succulent entrees, like our tender snow crab paired with savory garlic shrimp. just $12.99. come into red lobster and sea food differently. and introducing 7 lunch choices for just $7.99.

the use of drones by the obama administration is foreigning a political odd couple in the house of represent tifrs. dennis kucinich and ron paul. president obama ordered more drone strikes in his first term than president bush did in his combined terms. the strike just last week killed a senior leader in pakistan near the border of afghanistan and the two congress men want president obama to release all the information and the data and detail that he ordered against many terrorists. representative kucinich joins me live. welcome back and nice to see you. >> good to be with you. >> the judiciary did address this, but me why you are

challenging the president. >> it's not about challenging the president, but up holding the constitution of the united states. no president has the right to launch missile attacks on another country without congressional approval. no president has the right to take away someone's right to due process of law. they happen to be an american citizen abroad and we asked for the legal justification. that's what we are looking at. three years is a long time to wait. 300 drone strikes is enough time to say to the white house, where is your justification legally? >> let me jump in and want to throw something on the screen. we listed multiple terrorist who is have been killed by these drone strikes here. including in yemen who was an american. it's hard to argue that america is not safer without these men s. so my question is what's the

alternative would would we innovate countries and round up the suspects? might that be worse? >> what you are describing ends up being kind of a multidimensional game of whack a mole. every game we say they are killing, someone pops up to take their place. worse than that, innocent civilians are being killed. the bureau of investigative journalism said over 1,000. some were before mr. obama. they have been killed in the drone strikes. we are a country of laws. if we are a country of laws, then we uphold the constitution and congress has to have accountability here. >> i want to ask you about civilians killed. they are collateral damage and i want to ask but a 16-year-old who was killed because of a drone strike. the thing is and i know your concerns and congressman paul's concerns. the drone program is insighting

hatred against the u.s. right now. what about concerns of insighting more global hatred when the secrets and documents would be unveiled? >> no. we are not a secret government. who are we as america? we now will have official secrets and the american people can't know that not even congress can know? >> there things that congress does behind closed doors. can't it be kept a secret? >> no. you cannot have a democracy and even pretend to have a democracy if you are operating in secret. this move towardsy is cresy and being able to use deadly force without justification undermines our democracy and doesn't make us safer. >> should there be a special court system as a counter measure? what are you proposing? >> that congress exercise oversight. that's exactly what started to

happen today because of the resolution that mr. paul and i put forward. it's a resolution that required the judiciary committee to have a hearing and it was a broad discussion. frankly that discussion was the first time that they had a discussion about u.s. drone policy. >> let me ask you this as you take a sip there. i know congressman paul back in the town hall back in october and he was asked about this specifically. he said as we look down to make sure i am quoting him, the president's targeted killing of american born leader might be an impeachable offense. do you agree? >> look, it's sensational for any of us to claim that something is an impeachable offense. if i were to say that, that would be your banner. i am saying that the president has to account to the

constitution. the congress has to have oversight and congress has to have the information in order to make sure the laws are being followed. >> was the president working outside of the lines of the constitution. let me ask it that way. >> there is questions as to whether there is constitutional authority, the authority of international law, and whether there is accurate oversight. those are legitimate questions and they have to be asked and if we are violating the constitution. if we are proceeding to say that because we like the president, we should give him the power to determine who shall live and die overseas without proof or file or anything. worse than that to kill innocent civilians with no recourse for the families. what have we become as a nation. >> congressman we appreciate it and will follow wherever the solution goes.

dennis kucinich, thank you so much. >> thank you.

. >>y know your e-mail box is full of e cards and invites to holiday parties. e vits about politics. these are becoming huge. i'm excited about all things obama and congress will pretend to accomplish this year. here's another one. it's extremely important to watch the debates if you want to understand the jokes about twitter. joining me from washington and let me throw one more in because it's fun. one upside would be the end of people arguing about politics on facebook. i find it fun because i don't reveal myself, but why are these so huge in. >> those are the tamer ones by the way. they are huge if you think of it like this. you take a topic on people's minds already and finding the ridiculous in it. you might be talking to coworkers around the water cooler about the debt ceiling

and the candidates and what have you. say you went to a comedy show and you might have your own thoughts. a comedian came with a killer punch line about some of those topics that were on your mind. that's what these cards do. they take something thaw might be thinking this is ridiculous and silly and very succinctly and quickly and in a snarky way put it on a headline and it's moving to news. the daily show and gawker. we are seeing more and more of that. that's why they are so popular and stick in people's minds. >> some are graphic. we will not show some of those. it's a family show. >> thank you very much. they were pointing towards the candidates like this. hope you can relax and mentally check out this weekend as much as obama did during the debate.

ouch. romney's refuse will to explain how he will splish anything reminds me of my power point presentations. humorous as they may be, you think the e cards that are popping up in inboxes around the country, do they sway public opinion or are they just funny? >> i think they are more so just funny and not swaying public opinion. i talked with the two cofounder of some e cards. they talked to me about how they get the news of the day and a group of writers and contributors who pitch things. in terms of swaying, what they do at most is they confirm what you may have thought about president obama or already thought about mitt romney. >> or the fiscal cliff as you mentioned off the top. it's the notion of putting it myself in this kind of what i was thinking. >> political pop. thank you.

coming up next, rocking for a cause. . >> a little jon bon from bruce springsteen to kanye west all for hurricane sandy relief. how much did this mega rock-a-thon bring in? those are coming up next. pro-x. achieve anti-aging results so you look up to 12 years younger. see results in 28 days. guaranteed or your money back. olay pro-x. [ woman ] ♪ what i want this season ♪ if you'd like to try and guess ♪ ♪ it is something very special ♪ i would readily confess [ dogs barking ] ♪ 'cause all i want this season ♪ ♪ is something from your heart

♪ la da da, la da da [ male announcer ] thinking of others this holiday season, travelers. ♪

♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of all day pain relief. this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. it's lots of things. all waking up. connecting to the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. we're going to wake the world up. and watch, with eyes wide, as it gets to work. cisco. tomorrow starts here.

>> top of the hour here and i'm brooke baldwin. in syria, the regime behind the murder of 40,000 people is cracking. recently the senior international correspondent has been reporting for a country where we captured tough images to look at. a man crawling and trying to rescue a woman, a stranger in the midst of all these bullets flying. it's pretty tough to watch.

syrian teenager crawling on his hands and knees to save the stranger who is barely alive. she didn't make it, he survived. now we are hearing from an ally that the regime is weakening. the ally being russia. the foreign minster here to the right of president assad, he told state-run media that assad's government is losing control of more of syria. here's a quote "we need to look the facts in the eye and unfortunately we cannot exclude a victory by the opposition." russia was 1 of the votes that kept him from acting against assad. we heard this from native secretary general. >> i think the regime in damascus is approaching collapse. i think now is only a question

of time. >> how significant is this here? hello to you. we can talk about possible low assad leaving syria. now do you think that might be more serious? >> no. the question is how significant is the deputy foreign minster and my answer is very significant. this is a high level kremlin official saying russia is syria's most important friend. they are fulfilling military contract and blocking resolutions. it is publicly saying you read part of the quote thatty we must face the facts. then the deputy foreign minster added an opposition victory cannot be excluded. let's put it into context. they are not saying assad should step down and should include him and will now be on board in any

future un security council initiativ initiatives. >> but there is a possibility he may not win? >> absolutely. the first time we are hearing it from syria's most powerful friend, russia. >> let's talk scud missiles and how they are being used against opposition in syria. the regime saying this is not coming from us. it's obviously a sign that it's an up tick in violence and is it also desperation? >> possibly. these are very lethal weapons and some call them egregious. is this a desperate situation where at this point they have no choice but to use the most destructive weapons. these are insendiary bombs. when scud missiles are launched from the central part of the country that is controlled by rebel forces, this is a significant chance they will fall on the turkish side of the

border. they requested nato's defense missile system in order to shield it from this type of aggression. according to a u.s. official some of these fell close to the boarder and not in turkey proper, but the risk is there. . >> we will keep on watching. a tragedy in afghanistan. one american killed and another three injured after this suicide bomber launched an attack outside of a base in kandahar. all of this came hours after defense secretary leon panetta left the area. still not clear whether the attack was linked to his visit. erin burnett is walking with the secretary of defense hours before the attack. he talked about al qaeda. >> it was to defeat and disrupt and destroy. is that mission accomplished? >> the mission of defeating and deterring al qaeda i think is well on the way towards

achieving the mission with regards to afghanistan. the threat we face here. we continue to face a threat elsewhere not only in pakistan, but yemen and elsewhere. we have had success against al qaeda here. i think the main challenge here is obviously to make sure there is no safe haven and the key is to secure and govern itself. those two are interlocked in terms of a mission that we have in afghanistan. >> you can hear much more from the defense secretary on erin burnett out front tonight on cnn. a satellite launched tuesday by north korea may not be in a stable orbit. north korea may not be in total control of the satellite and

it's on this polar orbit at a relatively low altitude. one describes it as a rudimentary satellite with limited capability. as for the navy, they got part of the rocket's first stage booster off the western coast of south korea. now a former marine sitting in a mexican jail on gun charges. he has been there for months and is being threatened by drug cartel s. we told you this story yesterday. senator nelson is trying to get him out and now we are hearing from the marine's parents and they are emotionally drained. gary tuckman reports. >> johnny hammer is an american war jet van, a marine in afghanistan and iraq. he decided to drive with a fellow marine from florida in a win bago to costa rica for a surfing vacation. john and olivia are his parents. >> he realized and they took

every decent board they had. >> he was looking forward to driving there and knew it was mexico, but he was not planning on staying. >> no. the only reason they were going to stop is to get more gas. >> his parents were concerned when he wanted to bring an antique seers and row buck shotgun his great grandfather owned that looks like this. he wanted to hunt with it. he got the proper forms from border agents to declare it. once he did, the nightmare began. >> how far was he from the united states of america when he was arrested? >> he was on the border. he was crossing the border. >> feet away. >> or less. >> johnny hammar's friend was released, but johnny was brought to this jail charged with violating gun laws. his parents said the jail is controlled by mexican drug cartel members. a few nights after he was in prison, his parents got a call from someone threatening to kill their son unless the parents

paid money. >> he said i have your son. he said i am going to f him up. he said and i already have. for some stupid reason my response was oh, no, i'm going to call the consulate. he put johnny on the phone. i couldn't believe it. i realized, oh, my god. i thought he wasn't in the prison. i thought someone has taken him out of the prison. i couldn't conceive of this going on in a government facility. >> what are did johnny tell you? >> he said mom, you need to do whatever they say. they are serious. >> they never heard from the caller again, although the consulate has known about this from the beginning. his parents kept the story out of the press scared that

attention could be bad for their son, but increasingly desperate they are speaking out. >> the longer he is in there, the greater chance he will not get out alive. >> the congresswoman heads up the house committee on foreign affairs. the family just informed her about this. >> his outrageous and i'm asking for the state department to be more proactive. i have communicated with them and communicated with our u.s. ambassador in mexico. this week i meet with the mexican ambassador to the united states and enough is enough. >> their son looked forward to a surfing vacation and now he is past the-month mark in a mexican prison. he talked to his parents on the phone friday. >> i said johnny, we are going to get you out. he said mom, you have been telling me that since august. >> gary tuckman, cnn, miami. >> as time runs out, john

boehner at odds with tea party republicans. i am about to speak with one of them live who said no way i am giving on taxes. the news is now. >> be prepared. a massive cyber attack may be coming and the target is your cash. plus, barbara walters goes there with chris cristy and his wait. does it matter? a presidential historian weighs in. so long, hollywood. america's got a new hot spot for movies in the deep south. [ male announcer ] red lobster's crabfest ends soon. hurry in and try five succulent entrees, like our tender snow crab paired with savory garlic shrimp. just $12.99. come into red lobster and sea food differently.

and introducing 7 lunch choices for just $7.99. progressive direct and other car insurance companies? yes. but you're progressive, and they're them. yes. but they're here. yes. are you...? there? yes. no. are you them? i'm me. but those rates are for... them. so them are here. yes! you want to run through it again? no, i'm good. you got it? yes. rates for us and them -- now that's progressive. call or click today.

since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship.

together for your future. ♪ we don't let frequent heartburn come between us and what we love. so if you're one of them people who gets heartburn and then treats day after day... block the acid with prilosec otc and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. . >> it is that time again, time to peer over the fiscal cliff of taxes and punishing spending cuts. no real progress to speak of in an effort to get a deal done. scheduled to kick in in 19 days now. as we mentioned, john boehner

said the president is not serious. they are demanded by republicans and we did notice this. speaker boehner did not reject a vote for the first of the year to prevent the increase on incomes under $250,000 a year. president obama with the brought support of democrats and the public wants to keep them the same and raise rates on the top 2%, the wealthiest americans. he will talk about spending cuts. nice to have you on. >> great to be with you. >> one of your colleagues, they said this is outgoing with the republican of south carolina. he sounds as though he is throwing in the towel. he said president obama will get his wish. higher tax rates for the

wealthy. congressman brown, will the president get his wish? >> i think the president wants higher tax rates for everybody. even the lowest paid employees in this country is pushing towards. the problem is not the higher rates and taxes which i totally oppose, we have to talk about spending. spending is the problem and what's going to us off the cliff. it is leading towards a collapse of america that is going to hurt the poorest americans and seniors on a limited income. those working on the middle class americans. >> speaker boehner said many, many times before, the problem facing washington is not taxes being too low, but spending being too high. we know your side wants spending cuts and cutting, but medicare.

we saw this poll today. they said it doesn't cut medicare. morgan deduction, 66% of americans said don't cut that. tax deductions for making donations to charity. 72% said don't cut that. the numbers just make me wonder, do republicans in congress who clearly want to cut these things, do they have the support of constituents? do you? >> the problem is the polls don't reflect the reality here in america. i think that we have to cut spending and need to fix them. the democrats are denying they have a problem, but both of them are going broke quickly. we have to cut the spending and fix medicare and social security.

and if we don't cut spending, this country is already broke. we are going off the financial dlif. the big cliff that causes collapse of america. >> the polls in a lot of cases don't lie. 68% said don't cut medicare. your party is saying one thing and constituents are saying another. how do you appease both? >> i don't think you can appease both. we were elected to look at the probleming and do the hard work and i want to fix medicare and social security and make them sustainable. the democrats don't. they want to go off the cliff. we to cut spending. the outrageous spending that both have been doing is going to cause a financial collapse of the country. i'm willing to make the hard decisions. >>. >> would you support speaker boehner's reelections or a

challenger for speakership. should he run? i hear you laugh. just answer the question. >> brooke, i think the speaker is doing a good job and i support him and will continue to do so as long as i think he does a good job. >> is there any dissatisfaction in your chuckle? >> well, this is a lot of things that the press likes to talk about and tries to create fear off of for ratings. the thing is we have a speaker who is trying to negotiate with the president. the president has been missing in action on this. i think the president wants to take us over the fiscal cliff. >> you will vote for speaker boehner? >> i don't see any reason not to at this point. >> congressman paul brown, thank you so much. appreciate it. >> thanks, brooke. god bless you. >> thank you. until recently blockbuster movies have been created in hollywood, but the industry is taking on a more southern style and moving away from tinseltown.

we will take a look at why.

>> per atlanta, georgia. there is reason to believe it is

looking that way. georgia made 3.1 billion in and film production this year alone. some of your favorite shows shot in 50 georgia counties. big question. why georgia? we went to a set here in atlanta to find out. >> when it kim to this movie, john travolta and robert deniro, they had a choice to make and hollywood was not the 0. >> they found a deep and experienced crew base and had to bring very, very few people to the atlanta area to built our crew. >> they were not the first to pack up and head east. a recent study shows that los angeles county lost more than 16,100 movie-related shobs between 2004 and 2011.

jobs lured away from louisiana, new york, north carolina and georgia where they get big tax breaks for filming in georgia can be as much as 30%. chris bagwell who runs a filming complex has seen the difference. >> we had 15 different shows and that ranges from networks and cable and pilots which when they make the first episode of the show. >> filming in georgia had roots with deliver an starring burt ren olds in 1972. the state boasts of generating $3.1 billion in film-related revenues in 2o 12 alone. a booming industry that attracted studios setting the stage with infrastructure to support more. >> how big is the stage? >> it's 30,000 square feet and

40 feet tall and no columns. that's the key. it's the combination of the height and the fact that there is no column. you can build houses in here and three houses in here on the floor level. >> as other states benefit from california's loss, legislators there voted to extend for two additional years. a move to stop the flight of films elsewhere as industry leaders in l.a. look for solutions. but the director of george's film, music and digital entertainment office said right now one thing is clear. >> is it easier to find a job in the industry here right now? >> absolutely. definitely. >> we have more shows going on and so many people are so specifically in that industry that there so many of them out there it makes it hard for them. >> wonder why they cent seeing more and more around town. you talked about them as much as

30% in georgia, is that the reason why? >> the tax incentives are very important. it comes down to two other things. the diversity of the land. for georgia for instance. you can film in north georgia and south and tropical scenes. movie producers want that diversity of landscape and also diversity within the population. >> what about jobs? it has to help. it's not so hot. >> under 9% above the national average. the thing about these jobs, they come and go. they are temporary. it showed that georgia earned 800 jobs for movie productions and these jobs come and go. they are temporary and you finish one job and another set comes into the state and keeps coming through. >> i thought it was wild that i was there for work and they were filming a movie in soho. from atlanta, georgia in new

york. my goodness. it was fascinating. thank you so much. let's talk about your bank account now. you could be the target of a massive cyber attack. ahead we will look at when the threat might appear and what's being done to stop it. what you need to know. barbara walters asks chris christie are you too heavy to be president? it caused quite a stir. when it comes to image and health, does it matter? presidential historian gives us his take next. jaymi's christmas shopping and was looking for gifts at best buy. you wanna see if walmart has similar gifts for less? yeah. let's go. samsung galaxy s3 -- over fifty dollars less than best buy! wow! fifty bucks! yeah! that's a pair of shoes. see for yourself if you could save on the gifts you want. walmart.

social security are just numbers thinkin a budget.d... well, we worked hard for those benefits. we earned them. and if washington tries to cram decisions about the future... of these programs into a last minute budget deal... we'll all pay the price. aarp is fighting to protect seniors with responsible... solutions that strengthen medicare and... social security for generations to come. we can do better than a last minute deal... that would hurt all of us. aunt sally's singing again. it's a tradition, honey. [ singing christmas carols ] mmmm. [ female announcer ] make new traditions with pillsbury grands! cinnamon rolls.

[ female announcer ] make new traditions sfx- "sounds of african drum and flute" look who's back. again? it's embarrassing it's embarrassing! we can see you carl. we can totally see you. come on you're better than this...all that prowling around. yeah, you're the king of the jungle. have you thought about going vegan carl? hahaha!! you know folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than antelope with night-vision goggles. nice! get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. >> the bottom of the hour, thanks for being with me. a warning for anyone with a bank account from the computer firm mcafee. they claim that cyber criminals, hackers are planning on

attacking the customer accounts in banks and financial institutions next year. live for me at the stock exchange, how do i find out if my money will be safe or not? >> those at the biggest risk have online banking who do online banking. the good news is that the more this is brought out in the open, the more law enforcement and banks can do to put security measures in place. that's the safer you will be. you can't deny the fact that this is a huge worry. mcafee is the second firm to put out a warning on the same cyber attack. the first came from rsa and that came out in the fall. the financial industry is used to fending off cyber threats. this is set to hit in the spring. they are targeting 30 kmugzs. they want to funnel money out of the banks like fidelity and citibank.

it constantly monitors the environment and working with law enforcement on this. the good news is it could be a deterrent. >> this whole attack has a name called project blitzkrieg. who is behind this? >> it has the backing of russian cyber criminals and they recruited to help them. they have a lot of hackers and drawing small amounts from the bank accounts. the thinking is the smaller the footprint the harder to detect. now that it is public they disappeared from chat rooms and that could be a good sign, but you want to keep your anti-virus software up to date. even if you do get hit, your funds are not necessary low at risk. the bank is liable and you are not for this. they are aware of this. >> thank you very much. i don't know if you caught this. we did. barbara walters and chris christie. you know by now besides being a

heavy weight politically, the governor casts a pretty sizable shadow. here's barbara walters engaging him in a touchy matter of his physique. >> you are a little overweight. >> more than a little. yeah. >> why? >> stay with me. we will give you his answer in a moment. just to be sure, chris christie's weight, whatever it is, he doesn't say. that's his business, but when your name is bandied about as being presidential timber, people want to know about your health. a presidential historian joins me now from new orleans. welcome back. before we talk, i want to play the answer to barbara walters's question as to why he is so ro tund. >> why? >> if i could figure it out i would fix it. >> do you try to diet? >> i had more diets and lost and gained back more weight in my time than i care to count.

>> people say that you couldn't be president because you are so heavy. what do i say to that? >> that's ridiculous. >> do you think so? >> i agree with him 100%. he has a problem with his weight, but we all have ailments. the american spirit is one of not holding something like that against a candidate. franklin roosevelt had polio and was in a wheelchair. jfk had a disease and we can go on and on and on. it should not matter to people. will it hurt him in f he ran and tried to be on the campaign trail jumping city to city, could it slow him down? perhaps. as we saw in hurricane katrina with 18 hours a day. >> he had absolutely no problem. let me take away concerns about his health for a moment, but we haven't really had that many overweight presidents, have we? especially since the dawn of television.

image making goes along with that. >> good point, but we had grover cleveland and theodore roosevelt and william howard taft. all overweight. things did change in the 50s when you had to be telegenic. something about chris christie the way he handles it and the jersey accent. he is a can do guy. it works for him and comes off as his personality. the cartoonists would have a field day and the comics would make fun of him, but i think the american people will love him all the more for it. >> chris christie, people do love it, but we have our issues and that's what makes all of us human. his situation ask he admits it involves a behavior and would be considered compulsive. would that give pause to a fair-minded voter? >> i don't think so. bill clinton used it to great effect. jogging and eating a big mac and he was able to use it in his favor. later he had heart problems and

he is on cnn all the time talking about it. >> on the other side, we have republican strategist who said voters find so little they can believe. they put a premium on anything they perceive as authentic. that makes him more human and more real and therefore credible. do you think it makes him more relatable? >> i think so. i think the way he talks about it directly, we are all trying to diet out there. if anything it will be a lot of people who feel they're better that i at least had a better result than governor kristi did. not to joke about it, obesity is a big problem. the first lady is trying to talk about it and have a national dialogue, but chris christie may want to lose 10, 15, 20 or more pounds, but that's his business. it doesn't disqualify him for running for president. >> thank you. >> coming up next, a big bank in big trouble and it's paying for

it. apple is learning the hard way, the customer is always right. the business news you need, next. stand. at usaa, we know military life is different. we've been there. that's why every bit of financial advice we offer is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help. why they have a raise your rate cd. tonight our guest, thomas sargent. nobel laureate in economics, and one of the most cited economists in the world. professor sargent, can you tell me what cd rates will be in two years? no. if he can't, no one can. that's why ally has a raise your rate cd. ally bank.

your money needs an ally. monarch of marketing analysis. with the ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. i'm going b-i-g. [ male announcer ] good choice business pro. good choice. go national. go like a pro.

from the cnn money newsroom, this is your money. a bank will pay big for a bad deed. apple finds out the hard way that the customer is always right. small businesses and jobs, the facts that you need to know. >> if the president got everything he wanted, over $1.4 trillion in taxes, this is what that would represent. if you look at the spending problem, you see it does nothing. nothing to solve the spending problem that our country has. >> you watch that earlier? how speaker john boehner was beside himself when he played the chart in support of the ongoing contention that we don't have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem. that does not make sense to me.

that's a jumble of numbers that i am trying to reconstruct. something that boehner has been doing a lot of. let me explain how deficits between revenue and spending are mathematical and it's ridiculous and insulting to the intelligence to suggest that it is one or the other. the you want to balance the books, you spend less or bring in more. that's it. you can't make the argument that one or the other is the problem. every time he said it it's more and more ridiculous. i will complete his equation and tell you the truth where the politicians fall short. look at the bush era tax cuts that started in 2001 on the national debt. we projected it out to 2019, the big blob on the top. beige or butterscotch color. that's the bush era tax cuts and part of what is expected to be massive debt. that is the single biggist part of it, bigger than the cost of the wars or the economic

downturn or t.a.r.p. or the cost of the bailouts of fannie mae and freddie mac and to all the measures to combat the crisis combined. i can't tell you whether we have a tax or a revenue problem, we have a math problem and it serves our politicians to stick to the facts. okay. that's it. on to the money menu. swiss bank ubs is the next in a line of big banks paying dearly for their bad deeds. but, s has agreed to pay a fine that could top a billion dollars to settle claim that is it rigged a key interest rate, libor, the benchmark to calculate rates for everything from loans to credit cards. ubs and others are accused of rigging the rates to boost their balance she'ds. ubs would be the first to settle. shopping came back in style in november. retail sales bounced back in the aftermath of hurricane sandy. car dealers saw sales pick up 1.6% helped in part by people

replacing vehicles damaged in sandy. retail sales were also helped by people getting out and doing holiday shopping early. sales jumped 2.5% while clothing was up almost a percent. online shopping jumped 3%. the customer is always right. ask apple. they error released the iphone 5 to replace the google maps ap with one of its own. the customers hated it. they got the message and iphone owners can download google maps. users complained that apple's map ap had no turn by turn navigation or directions on public transport or live traffic info. in other words, it was getting people lost. it may have government one executive a job and a few billion dollars. look at the stock chart over the past month. you can see who is getting the love from investors. apple has apologized and made peace with google for now.

you can say that apple found its way. it was called the biggest lie of the election season. the fact checking website rates it as the biggest lie of all of 2012. mitt romney's campaign ran the ad in the swing state of ohio before election day. >> obama took gm and chrysler into bankruptcy and told them in china. >> the ad was referring to the auto bailout that lent a line to chrysler and gm and saved america's car industry from imminent collapse. i was in ohio when the ad came out, riding the cnn election express. ohio was crucial to romney and he had to take the state if he wanted to win, but ohio is auto country. i met voters in columbus who were outraged because it was a bold-faced lie. all chrysler said is it may make

extra jeeps in china. here's what i said about romney's surprising misunderstanding of the auto industry back then. >> for decades and decades and decades, american auto companies have made cars in the countries or the regions in which they sell them. i want to remind americans when they buy toyotas and hondas and hyundais and nissans in america that are assembled here, back home somebody said why are you shipping our jobs to america? it shows a misunderstanding by the romney camp to try and get under people's nails about jobs and cars being made elsewhere. >> christine didn't see that coming and got stuck listening to my rant. they knew all of this very well and chrysler immediately denied the claim and romney stood by his ad. i don't need to tell you what an important swing state ohio is. there may be a host of reasons he department carry the state in the end, but his stunt didn't

help. he tried to deceive ohioans and it backfired. mitt romney lost his best chance at the white house. the lie of the year may cost romney the election. for more coverage, tune into your money. i'm out. same time tomorrow. 315 horsepower. what's that in reindeer-power? [ laughs ] [ pencil scratches ] [ male announcer ] chevy's giving more. get the best offer of the year -- 0% apr financing for 60 months plus $1,000 holiday bonus cash. plus trade up for an additional $1,000 trade-in allowance. hurry. bonus cash ends january 2nd. starts with arthritis pain and a choice. take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. just two aleve can keep pain away all day. back to the news.

so all of you do. yes, for sure. now what's better? being able to shoot two lasers out of both of your eyes at the same time or just one laser out of one eye? [ all kids ] two! [ moderator ] okay, why? if it's just one beam -- okay, it does a little bit of damage. two beams -- it will make something explode! and that's more fun? yeah! and it's more powerful you're saying? yeah! [ male announcer ] it's not complicated. doing two things at once is better. and only at&t's network lets you talk and surf on your iphone 5. ♪

>> we are hearing and reporting that according to a republican aide, we learned that john boehner will be headed to the white house just about an hour and 15 minutes from now to talk to the president. we will presumably assume they will talk about the fiscal cliff. wolf blitzer, i will bring you in. let's look at brief time. they met at the white house on sunday. there was a phone call a couple of days ago and still you have the house speaker today with his big sign saying they need too much spending in washington and need to cut the spending cuts.

the president wants the tax on the top 2%. where do you think this will go? >> who knows where it's going to go. i know the pressure is mounting on both the president and the speaker of the house. the speaker made it clear earlier today you are getting ready to go home to cincinnatiy for the weekend. if there was no movement, now there seems to be movement and they get together and maybe the president has specific new spending cuts and he is ready to put forward including entitlement spending whether medicare or medicate and maybe something on social security. i doubt social security will be thrown into the mix by the president. so much democratic opposition to any cuts let alone social security. i suspect that's not going to happen. if he is going up in terms of tax revenue and allow a hike in

the tax rate for the highest income bracket. his republican base out there, the republican talk us as you know are firm. they don't want to see the hikes go up as far as the rate is concerned. the speaker put for the increased revenue of $800 billion. are what do you think of thought where they can vote on the tax increase over the cuts for the $250,000 and less and increase for the top 2%. let that sit and handle spending cuts later. that's where he is getting ugly. they wouldn't agree without something having to do with spending cuts. 19 days to go. isn't the president supposed to be in hawaii on monday? >> i don't think he is going to be in hawaii on monday. i think they will be here for at least all of next week. let's see what happens on christmas eve.

you have to get the legislation down on paper and take a look at it and have a roll call. there is a fast track they can do in a speedy fast track. they still need time and they are far apart on a lot of these issues. will they kick the ball down the road? that's obviously possible. they often do that in a situation like this. especially when they want to be home for christmas and new year's. that puts an enormous amount of pressure on the men and women in the house and the the house and senate. let's see if it's enough to score a deal. brooke, you know this, our viewers know this. if nothing happens, if no legislation is enacted, everyone's taxes is going on and there will be significant spending cuts, national security spending. that's going to happen until there's legislation. so the pressure is clearly enormous. >> the pressure is on in about an hour in a room with the white

house where the two men will be talking face-to-face and at least not through the media. wolf, we'll be going to you in "the situation room." we have a talk coming up on a case. you know how when you're on a bus and you're being watched because avid ohio? what about audio? that's next. [ female announcer ] what if the next big thing, isn't a thing at all? it's lots of things. all waking up. connecting to the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. we're going to wake the world up. and watch, with eyes wide, as it gets to work. cisco.

tomorrow starts here. at the chevy year-end event because chevy's giving more. more efficiency with sonic and cruze... more function in equinox and traverse... more dependability with the legendary silverado... and more style in the all-new malibu. chevy's giving more at the year-end event because 'tis the season. chevy's giving more. this holiday season, get a 2013 cruze ls for around $149 per month or get $500 holiday bonus cash.

breaking news here on cnn. i have something else for you. we are learning that the u.s. ambassador to the united nations, susan rice, has now withdrawn her name for nomination for the u.s. secretary of state cabinet post. you know the story. she's been under fire in really the weeks since september 11th of this year and the aftermath of the attacks on benghazi and libya that killed the ambassador there and several others. so she's come under fire because of the administration's response. we've seen many veteran senators very critical of her, including senators john mccain and lindsey graham. they will have much more on "the

situation room" as this news is just coming out, what this means. let me get to the statement here, the statement from the white house. quote, i spoke to ambassador rice and accepted her decision to remove her name -- this is the president -- remove her name from consideration for secretary of state. it goes on. for two decades susan has proven to be an extraordinarily capable, patriotic, and passionate public servant. as my ambassador to the united nations, she plays a role in american's interest. she has secured international support in sanctions against korea and stood up for sudan and stood for the human rights of all people. it goes on to say that he's very grateful that she will continue to serve as ambassador to the united nations. it's been widely known that she

has been the topic. so with her withdrawing her nomination, what other names might float to the top of that list? a lot of valid questions as people start mulling this over as there are changes coming in the next few day. helping generas through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪ social security are just numbers tthinkin a budget.d...re.

well, we worked hard for those benefits. we earned them. and if washington tries to cram decisions about the future... of these programs into a last minute budget deal... we'll all pay the price. aarp is fighting to protect seniors with responsible... solutions that strengthen medicare and... social security for generations to come. we can do better than a last minute deal... that would hurt all of us. i have a cold, and i took nyquil, but i'm still "stubbed" up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have a decongestant. no way. [ male announcer ] sorry. alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms plus has a fast acting decongestant to relieve your stuffy nose. [ sighs ] thanks! [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus. ♪ oh what a relief it is! ♪ [ male announcer ] to learn more about the cold truth and save $1 visit alka-seltzer on facebook.

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room" and we have breaking news. susan rice, the united states ambassador to the united nations is withdrawing her name to secede hillary clinton. jessica yellin is joining us with more details. no more susan rice potentially as secretary of state. >> reporter: that's right, be wolf. it clears the path for president obama to choose without controversy. if he was going to name ambassador rice to that post, in a statement the president released he said in part,